This present invention relates to an improvement in grease traps, and more particularly to a device for collecting, separating, and simply and easily removing grease from effluent streams emanating from restaurants, various food processing facilities, and other similar facilities.
Grease traps of varying configurations are well known in the prior art. Some are of simple design while others are complex and/or fully automated. These include U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,335 issued to Janssen on Sept. 18, 1956 (a simple grease trap design to catch for later manual disposition of grease, the trap having a plurality of removable partitions with staggered openings creating a tortuous effluent flow path); U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,860 issued to Sager on Apr. 9, 1996 (also of relatively simple design structured to separate and retain grease apart from clean water flow for later manual removal of the retained grease); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,055 issued to Holloway on Jan. 6, 1998 (a more complex separator and automated grease removal apparatus).
While these prior art devices are suited for their intended purpose none is as simple in construction and operation as is the present invention which captures and separates grease from water and permits removal of grease therefrom in a cleaner, faster, and less costly manner without interrupting facility operations.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention are to:
a. provide a grease trap which is easy to use; PA1 b. provide a grease trap which is easy to install and which is compatible with virtually most existing effluent discharge systems; PA1 c. provide a grease trap which is simple in structure; PA1 d. provide a grease trap which is inexpensive to operate; PA1 e. provide a grease trap which is virtually maintenance-free; and PA1 f. provide a grease trap which is inexpensive to manufacture and, consequently, to purchase.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the present invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or by modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.